The present invention relates to tobacco processing, and in particular to a method for chemically modifying a tobacco extract.
Cigarettes are popular smoking articles which have a substantially cylindrical rod shaped structure and include a charge of tobacco material surrounded by a wrapper such as paper thereby forming a so-called "tobacco rod." It has become desirable to manufacture cigarettes having cylindrical filters aligned in an end-to-end relationship with the tobacco rod. Typically, filters are manufactured from fibrous materials such as cellulose acetate, and are attached to the tobacco rod using a circumscribing tipping material. See, Baker, Prog. Ener. Combust. Sci., Vol. 7 pp. 135-153 (1981).
Typical cigarettes include blends of various tobaccos, such as the flue-cured, Burley, Maryland and Oriental tobaccos. Cigarette blends also can include certain amounts of processed and reconstituted tobacco materials. Reconstituted tobacco materials often are manufactured from tobacco stems, dust and scrap using papermaking processes. See, Tobacco Encyclopedia, edit. by Voges, pp. 389-390, TJI (1984). In certain instances, it is desirable to enhance the flavor of reconstituted tobacco materials by treating such materials with ammonia. Oftentimes, reconstituted tobacco material is treated with anhydrous ammonia or with an aqueous ammonium hydroxide solution after manufacture of the reconstituted material is complete.
It would be desirable to provide an efficient and effective process for providing a reconstituted tobacco material which has been treated with ammonia.